Investigation of Material Properties for Load Rating of Historical Bridges
Publication: Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 25, Issue 4
Abstract
More than 6,500 material test observations of historical reinforcing steel bars, structural steel, and concrete were compiled from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) database. Statistical distributions were fitted to represent the strengths of concrete and different grades of steel from given eras. Strength values to be used in load ratings of historical bridges were determined based on the 5th-percentile strengths from these distributions. For bridges built prior to 1954, the data support a yield strength increase of up to 40% for reinforcing steel bars based on this approach. The compressive strength used for load ratings of bridges built prior to 1959 could be increased by up to 20% compared with the current guideline. Specific recommended values are applicable to load ratings of Texas bridges, whereas the statistical framework is applicable generally.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, or code generated or used during the study are available from the corresponding author by request.
Acknowledgments
This research was funded by the Texas Department of Transportation. Their financial support is gratefully acknowledged. Dario Vieira’s work in experimental testing and data processing was paramount to the completion of this work and is gratefully acknowledged as such. The assistance provided by Dr. Yihui Zhou in data collection is duly appreciated, as is Yajie Jiang’s assistance in data entry. The authors also recognize Jeff Miller’s assistance in the collection of material samples.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 25 • Issue 4 • April 2020
Copyright
©2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 2, 2019
Accepted: Oct 28, 2019
Published online: Jan 28, 2020
Published in print: Apr 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Jun 28, 2020
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